Trump says NYT 'failing' -- but stock up 30% since election

President Trump loves to take potshots on Twitter at media companies that he thinks treat him unfairly.

On Wednesday, Trump attacked one of his favorite targets, the New York Times, tweeting from his @realdonaldtrump account.

"Remember when the failing @nytimes apologized to its subscribers, right after the election, because their coverage was so wrong. Now worse!"

Trump loves to claim that the publisher is "failing," but that idea needs to be fact checked, because shares of New York Times Co(NYT). are up 30% since he was elected president. If that's a failure, what's his definition of success?

The company's stock is also up nearly 9% so far this year. That's better than the overall market and much better than many of its dead tree and ink rivals.

Remember when the failing @nytimes apologized to its subscribers, right after the election, because their coverage was so wrong. Now worse!

Gannett's(GCI) stock has plunged nearly 15% this year. McClatchy(MNI) is down almost 30%. And the awfully-named tronc(TRNC) (formerly Tribune Publishing) is up just 1%.

And as many others have already noted, the notion that the paper "apologized" to its readers is a Trump fantasy. The Times did admit that the outcome of the election was "unexpected." But it never, in its letter to readers in November, asked for forgiveness for any editorial lapses.

Now, to be fair to the president, it is true that the Times has fallen on hard times over the past few decades due to the massive shift in how people consume media -- and the advertising changes that have come along with the digital revolution.

The company's overall ad revenue is still falling. But digital ad sales were up 11% in the fourth quarter.

And the growth in digital subscriptions has been so strong that it helped lift overall circulation revenue in the quarter, despite a decline in the sale of print editions.

Of course, the Times, like many traditional media companies, is far from healthy. There have been layoffs, staff buyouts and budget cuts over the past few years.

But the digital growth is impressive. Plus, the paper is now backed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, whose family owns a more than 17% stake in the company. At last check, Slim is a lot wealthier than Trump -- and a powerful ally for the NYT to have.

Both are billionaires. But Slim is worth $57 billion according to the latest Bloomberg rankings. That makes him the sixth-richest person on the planet. Bloomberg estimates Trump's net worth at $3 billion.